Theo Walcott made his first start of the season against FC Koln (Picture: Getty)
Theo Walcott made his first start of the season against FC Koln (Picture: Getty)

Theo Walcott claims the slow service he received from his Arsenal teammates was to blame for his sub-par performance against FC Koln on Thursday.

The England forward made his first start of the season as Arsenal began their Europa League campaign with a 3-1 win over the Bundesliga’s bottom side.

Walcott has been unable to force his way into Arsene Wenger’s Premier League starting XI this season, and his performance last night is unlikely to have forced his manager’s hand ahead of Sunday’s showdown against Chelsea.

The 28-year-old had a hand in Hector Bellerin’s game-clinching goal but was otherwise ineffectual and attracted the ire of his own fans for being caught offside on three separate occasions.

Alexis Sanchez helped Arsenal get off to a winning start in the Europa League (Picture: Getty)

‘I was offside too many times to be honest,’ Walcott told Arsenal Player. ‘I was disappointed with that.

‘I won’t dwell on that too long. It’s just about me timing my runs slightly better, but I say the players are playing it too late, that’s my excuse anyway! I like to make the runs and I’ll definitely be feeling it tomorrow morning.

‘We went back to the 4-3-3. I like to make the runs to create space for other players and to stretch teams and it seemed to work in the second half especially.

‘First half it was always difficult to get involved for the whole team really. They closed us down very well, they were very strong from the back. But in the end we got the result which we really deserved, I think. It was a nervous start but it was good to end on a positive result.’

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